


Home At Last

by flamingburningfandomtrash



Category: Undertale (Video Game)
Genre: Angst, Angst and Fluff, Angst and Hurt/Comfort, Angst with a Happy Ending, Bonely Reader, Comfort, Fluff, Happy Ending, Hurt, Loss of Control, Mini-story, No Sex, No Smut, One of My Favorites, Post-Resets, Post-geno then Post-Pacifist, Runaway Reader, Sad with a Happy Ending, Soul Magic, just read it, reader has magic, the tags don't make sense
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-08-26
Updated: 2019-08-26
Packaged: 2020-09-26 21:28:01
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,494
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20396416
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/flamingburningfandomtrash/pseuds/flamingburningfandomtrash
Summary: The was supposed to be a one-shot, but it's more of a mini-story.You run away after your soul starts acting weird, but Sans finds you.Is it worth risking his life to come back?





	Home At Last

It had been such a good night for them, but not for you. They were so happy. You were just guilty and sad. All of the little things they’d done to make you feel welcome, even after you’d hurt them so badly, makes you feel guilty for even being here. It's been a few days after the monsters had been freed- and the skeleton brothers had decided to remain living in the Underground. They’d so generously offered for you to stay with them, when you’d confided to Sans that you didn’t exactly have any sort of home you wanted to return to. I In fact, he’d been kind of excited that you wanted to stay- he and Papyrus had set up a cot for you on the couch at night, and everything had been going smoothly- but all the guilt for the past genocide routes, all of your bottled-up feelings caught up to you then.  
You aren't exactly sure how or why it was bothering you so much- but the space right above your soul was pooling with magic. Guilt, and pain, and anger magic. Not the kind you can control, the kind you can't get rid of until you know what you're doing. So you were standing in the living room when it happened- your soul filled up with all of those feelings, the worries you hadn’t told them about, and they lashed out of your chest. The blast sliced red-hot through the couch cushions, tearing them to pieces. When it ended, you slumped to the ground. Sans had run forward, trying to see if you were okay, but you’d crawled back away from him, scared if he touched you, you’d hurt him. You shrank away from Papyrus’ touch the same way-

“(Y/N), ARE YOU ALRIGHT? WHY DID YOU HURT THE COUCH? IT WAS A LITTLE LUMPY, BUT I THINK THAT WAS A BIT RASH.”  
“yeah, you good, kiddo? you don’t look too hot.” Sans added, searching your face for an explanation.  
“I- I didn’t mean-” you stuttered, burying your face in your hands. Papyrus tried to hug you again, but you stumbled to your feet, pulling back. “No, don’t! What if I hurt you?!” you shout, tears welling up behind your eyes. "I don't even know what happened, I can't control it, oh, god-"  
“(Y/N), YOU WOULD NOT HURT ME! IT IS OKAY, DO YOU NEED A HUG?”

You shook your head- what you needed is to get out of here. After all you’d done to them, after ALL they’d done to help you out of that murderous state of mind, something in your soul was trying to do it all over again. You couldn’t stay. It would hurt them. It might kill them.  
You’d grabbed your old jacket, hot tears stinging at your eyes, and run out the front door into the snow. They’d called after you, run after you, Sans shouting loudest, but you’d run all the way through the broken barrier to the surface. You knew they were still behind you, trying to keep you from doing this, but they didn’t understand.  
‘Some people can’t change, no matter how hard they try,’ you think. ‘Some people don’t get the choice to do the right thing…’

You had stumbled down the mountain then, hiding in some plants. You were so tired, you’d never outrun them all the way down. They passed right by your hiding spot, Papyrus running silently, Sans calling your name in a voice so scared you started to cry. They didn’t hear it, though. After they’d gone back to the broken barrier, you’d ran the rest of the way down. You’d find a way to make it out here. It would be okay… right?  
~~~~~ You think back on the memory with pain, but not with regret. Even after they’d gone, your soul struck out, cutting scrubby plants in half. With every jolt, the constant thought-  
‘What if Papyrus had been there? What if Sans was where that rock was?'  
You know they’re still looking for you, even though it's been months- the missing posters in the grocery store are updated with different photos of you every few days. You stare at them sometimes, tears pushing behind your eyes when you see yourself asleep on the old couch watching anime, or running around talking to echo flowers.  
Maybe you can go back one day.  
Maybe when your soul stops destroying random things with no warning! It really only happens when you stay bottled up for long periods of time, so you've started talking to potted plants and unloading all of your sorrows on fire hydrants. You once had a long conversation with the glass of the window outside a clothing store. The people inside looked awfully confused, but you’re too apathetic these days to feel embarrassed for it.  
You’re staying in an old house that you remembered from your days as a little kid exploring on the surface. No one lives here but you and the occasional bird. After cleaning the place out, it was kind of nice. Quiet, freezing, and dusty, but better than living on the street.  
You spend most of your spare time in here, swaddled in the jacket, the old thick one you’re so happy you grabbed, unloading your feelings and memories to no one but the dust motes on the air. One evening, you decide tell a crow on the windowsill everything you remember before you left-

“I remember I was so guilty for killing them, over and over… they didn’t deserve to have me there, I was just in the way, not to mention every time I saw them that creepy voice in my head started telling me that I was worthless for not “finishing the job”. I- I'm not worthless. And I'm not going to hurt them... that's why I left. Papyrus was like a brother to me, giving me advice and carrying me on his back and-” your voice breaks, and it takes you a minute to wipe your eyes. “And- and Sans. He was always making the funniest bad jokes and he had the greatest smile, and he let me borrow his hoodie when I was cold, and he had the warmest hugs, and he always helped me when I had nightmares. I kinda, heh. I kinda liked him a little. I think he liked me a little, too, but that’s stupid, right? I killed him and I killed Papyrus and I killed EVERYONE because this STUPID voice in my head told me to! Why would I listen?!- oh, I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to yell.”  
The bird flits around nervously as your shouted words carry into the hallway of the dead complex. You sigh as the jumpy little thing flies out. He’s calling loudly now, the sound you remember the city birds make for danger. It could be your voice, echoing around, that scared it, but the footfalls down the hallway make you realize otherwise. Oh no. Is there an inspector or a contractor or something coming to check out the old place?! You’d be arrested for sure! You curl into a shadow and toss your coat on top of you. Luckily, the months without much food have made you slender and small. You hide easily underneath it.  
The heavy footsteps come in- you know you’re screwed well before the figure yanks the coat off of you. 

“I know, I’m sorry, I shouldn’t be here, please don’t-”  
“(y/n)?”  
You look up suddenly at the voice- Sans?! No, no, no, no, no! He can’t have found you, you hid so well! You’d run so nothing could happen to him, and now he’s here?!

“No, no, no, no, you can’t, I- I, no, no, no-”

You look up, needing to make sure it’s him before you say anything you’ll regret- but it’s definitely him. He has his trademark grin on, real this time. It slips when he sees your reaction to his being here, and you bury your face in your hands, hoping that if your soul lashes out it’ll kill you instead of him. You try to push him away with your words, backing further into the shadow than before until you’re leaning against the wall.

“You can’t BE here, what if I hurt you, what if I KILL you, you have to go before anything happens!”  
“i’m not leavin'.”  
“Why?! You know what it’s like to have power like this! What if you lost control of all of your blasters, Sans? You’d try to hide, too,” you argue, shrinking back.  
“maybe. maybe i’m being a selfish hypocrite by risking my life to see you again, but at this point i don’t care what i am as long as you’re here.”

You look up when his glowing blue tears splash on your boots, and he sinks to his knees. This time you don’t pull away when he hugs you. You murmur quietly,

“I WANT to go home with you…I WANT to see Paps again, but I’m not risking that when my soul is so finicky… WATCH OUT-”

You push him aside just in time for a slash of magic to put a hole in the drywall of the little room. He jumps, looking from you to the wall, then back at you.  
Your tears fall now, that was so close, doesn’t he see that you can’t go with him?!

“hey, don’t cry, i’m ok, you’re ok,” he says, moving forward to try to hug you again. You pull back, tears making tracks on your face.  
“I’m NOT okay! I nearly just, just KILLED YOU! I can’t even predict when it happens, it’s so random, I’ll end up hurting someone! Please, just go!”  
“. . .ok. ok, if that’s what you want, i’ll go. but before i do, please just let me try to heal you.”  
“I- no, you can’t, what if it goes wrong…please, this doesn’t have to be this hard," you plead, putting your hands up slightly.  
“you’re in here, starving, talking to birds, it’s freezing, you haven’t changed or cleaned off in who knows how long, and you want me to leave you here?! since when was my life worth squat, (y/n)? yours matters more than mine! come home, PLEASE, we miss you so damn much, I miss you so damn much, every day! please- we can work something out…” his voice breaks, and he drifts off hopelessly. You know his words are true, and that hurts you even more. When he can talk again, he's not meeting your eyes, but looking squarely at the ground- “is it true, though? all that stuff you said? the stuff you said about Paps... and that stuff about me?”  
The sudden question catches you off guard- so you answer honestly.  
“I- yes, well, yeah, it is. I miss you, so much,” you have to stop and take a shaky breath, “But if I come home… then… then it could be worse.”  
“it isn’t stupid, by the way.”  
“What?”  
“i DO like you. everything about you- your smile, and how awesome you were at video games, and how warm and cuddly you got at night, and everything. it’s probably dumb to say something now, ‘cause you don’t wanna come back, but i dunno.”  
“. . . Do you still feel that way? Like, really?”  
“yeah. yeah, i do.”  
“I- I kinda still really like you, too…but that’s just another reason that I shouldn’t come back. If I hurt you, it’ll hurt both of us so much worse.”  
“please, let me try to heal you,” he begs, voice filled to overflowing with pain. 

Tears have started to fall again, on both ends, and you nod. He comes closer to sit by you, then puts a gentle hand on your back. He focuses all his magic there, and soon the green flame creeps up around you. It feels warm and soft- you have to lean against the wall again so you don’t slump over and fall asleep. He supports you, a little, and if not for the wall and his hands you might have just drifted off. When it’s over, though, you feel strangely light. It feels empty, but the good kind of empty- like you hadn't known how heavy a weight is until it's lifted. Something tells you your soul won’t be acting out again anytime soon. You blurt out the words-

“I- I think it worked? It, it feels all, um, light and, like, easy now. But... how do we know?” you hate to think that this might just be a temporary solution, but you have to be careful- the still-warm hole in the wall is proof enough of that.  
“um, i dunno, how do we test this?”   
“I guess if it didn’t work, my soul will attack something...”

But you get the feeling that you’re okay now, the possibility of failure sounding stupid when you suggest it in your mind. You lean over and hug him tightly, trying to catch your breath, you're so shaky with relief. His face flushes blue, but he wraps his arms around your back, pulling you closer to his chest. You don’t even bother with blushing- this feels too good to be embarrassed about. 

“i love you…if, um, that isn’t weird or anything.”  
“No- I- I love you, too. Can we go home?”  
“yup. you need some food and sleep and a shower.”  
“Can I sleep in your room, maybe?”  
“sure, sweetheart.”  
(You don't mention the nickname.) “yeah. he’s either at home or trying to find photos of you to put up in the store, normally,” you flinch... you were making him worry all this time.  
“I’m so, so sorry, Sans.”  
“i know.”

He wraps an arm around your shoulders and teleports with you to the barrier. Once inside, he admits he can’t go much farther by magic; he’s getting tired. When you arrive at home, Papyrus cries tears of relief to see you again- he pulls you into the biggest, longest bear hug you’ve ever had, and starts to make celebratory spaghetti. After so little food, the smell of the indescribable dish makes your mouth water. Sans digs out some new clothes for you, and your shower feels super refreshing after so long with only the dusty old nozzle in the apartment.  
Everything you took for granted now makes you feel even guiltier- after all of the pain you put them through, they deserve better.  
But the happy looks they give you when you come out of the shower are enough to convince you- they really do want you here, don’t they? That night, you lean into the clean coolness of Sans’ mattress. Even if it is just a mattress on the floor, it’s so much better than anything you had on the surface. He comes in to find you sound asleep on it, and curls into your little cocoon of warmth, fitting there with you perfectly. 

Finally- home at last.


End file.
